‘Dead West’ Graphic Novel Combines the Best of Both Worlds

Hitting stores on September 9th from Gigantic Graphic Novels is Rick Spears and Rob G’s Dead West, which would make for a beautiful adaptation for film. The book is a Zombie/Western that’s a whopping 144 pages of delicious zombie ass whoopin. Read on for my review and more details, and make sure to pick this up if you’re either a comic reader or a zombie fanatic…Dead West (Original Graphic Novel)
By: Rick Spears and Rob G
Pages from the book can be viewed here

A period piece I would die for…

I’m not a big fan of horror period pieces, and most of the time they end up sucking (ie Crow Wicked Prayer, Tremors 4)- but with a nice little budget I think Rick Spears and Rob G’s Dead West would make for a fantastic adaptation.

I totally dig the Wild West and the cowboy boots, the sheriffs, the drinking, the hookers, the bad ass gunslingers and most of all the horses that always seem to avoid dying in a shootout. Now what could you add to that scenario to make it that much better? If you’d say nothing, you’d be completely wrong (and I’d challenge you to a duel)- try a horde of zombie Indians who want sweet revenge.

In Gigantic Graphic Novels’ Dead West a small Indian village is wiped out to clear the way for a town called Lazarus. After surviving the attack, one Indian child grows up aching for revenge as sacrifices himself to bring back his Indian families. They rise from the grave and tear the town apart. But what they don’t expect is to find a hero (with no name) who takes out more zombies than anyone else in the town.

This no name hero plays off similar to Ash except for the fact that he’s always been a bad ass and didn’t become one, like Ash. The book is black and white, but still extremely graphic- and unlike the typical western story, horses get slaughtered left and right! Yummy! I also enjoyed a little spin that takes place about 3/4th through the book, where the Indian son is confronted by his dead father, which is a very cool concept alone.

Sure we’ve got blood, zombies and loads of mayhem, but we still get a fair share of humor. Easily one of my favorite panels is when one of the characters give birth to a stillborn child and one of the other ladies goes to throw it out of the window (before it becomes a zombie). Before she can the hero grabs it by the ankle, slaps its ass and it comes back to life. He hands the baby back to the mother and says, “it’s a boy”- an instant classic.

The artwork was also really appealing. I enjoyed the dynamic look thrown in, that looked like something out of a Japanime cartoon. It’s racy, sharp and each panel is filled to the bone with detail. Any comic fan- or zombie fan for that matter- will appreciate this book, which will be available come September 9th. You can pre-order this sucker by clicking here for only $9!!!